Choosing a Plastic Surgeon

How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon for Liposuction, Tummy Tuck and Body Contouring

FAQs about choosing a plastic surgeon, checking your surgeon's qualifications and licensing and other resources to help you find a plastic surgeon who is right for you.

  1. I've narrowed down my choices. Where can I find resources to help me check my doctor's credentials?
  2. Where resources are available to help me find a Plastic Surgeon?

1. I've narrowed down my choices. Where can I find resources to help me check my doctor's credentials?

We've put together a list of online resources, as well as a state-by-state listing of telephone numbers you can use to verify board certification, license status and more. Click here to go to LipoSite's Researching Your Plastic Surgeon's Credentials pages.

2.  Where resources are available to help me find a Plastic Surgeon?

The following is a list of places to start when you are gathering a list of potential plastic surgeons. Remember - this section is designed to give you a start, not make the final decision. There's still a lot of qualification-checking to do once you have a doctor or several doctors in mind.

  • Family members and friends - If anyone you know has had liposuction, talk to them. Ask them who they chose, why they chose them and if they were happy with the results.
  • Your family doctor - Your doctor may be able to recommend a plastic surgeon to you.
  • Hospitals in the area - Find out which board certified plastic surgeons have operating privileges in their hospital. Hospital operating privileges signify official approval from the hospital.
  • Directories, commercials, web sites and advertising - Since plastic surgery is a highly competitive field, you will find that many more plastic surgeons advertise than do practitioners of other medical specialties. Exercise caution when you use advertising to pick a doctor, because the newspapers, magazines, TV stations and Yellow Pages don't check qualifications when they accept advertising dollars.

However, certain groups or professional societies only accept board certified plastic surgeons and the directories they publish contain only names of doctors who are certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

You've still got some work ahead of you before you select the doctor to perform your liposuction, but this should get you started!

Accessibility Toolbar